Screenshot of QEMU VM showing an ASCII Gentoo Logo + system info

I followed Mental Outlaw’s 2019 guide and followed the official handbook to get up-to-date instructions and tailored instructions for my system, the process took about 4 hours however I did go out for a nice walk while my kernel was compiling. Overall I enjoyed the process and learnt a lot about the Linux kernel while doing it.

I’m planning on installing it to my hardware soon, this was to get a feel for the process in a non-destructive way.

  • degrix@lemmy.hqueue.devEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I remember printing out the Gentoo installation manual in the compsci lab way back in 2004. It was my first Linux distro and have fond memories of tinkering around on it. I remember leaving it a few years later for a cool new distro that was on the rise called Ubuntu. I still think portage is one of the better approaches to package management though.

    • khannie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Agreed. It’s such a great learning process. I ultimately gave up on Gentoo but learned a lot by using it for about 2 years way back in around 2005.

      Linux From Scratch brings a huge leap in understanding too.

      • DryTomatoes4@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        I found Gentoo more helpful than LFS because with LFS you compile about 80 packages from source one at a time but you don’t learn too much about the packages.

        LFS gave me much more awareness of what packages actually come with a Linux install but Gentoo taught me more about configuring and booting a Linux system.

        Although I’d definitely recommend both to anyone wanting to learn. I’d do Gentoo first then LFS.

        Edit: LFS is also a masterclass in cross compiling so if that’s something you’re curious about LFS is the way to go.

      • fraydabson@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Back in like 2011 I was living out of state for college. Had decided to drop out at the time so had limitless free time for a bit. I definitely used that time to compile my own kernel and setup gentoo lol. I haven’t played with gentoo since but it was fun and helped my appreciation for Linux.

  • Carter@feddit.ukEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    How much maintenance does Gentoo need once installed? I don’t mind a complicated install but it’s the constant tinkering I can’t deal with.

      • 1984@lemmy.today
        1·
        1 year ago

        Gentoo probably doesn’t have all packages. One of the reasons I love Arch is because it almost always has any package in the AUR. It’s a lot more work to try and get something installed on Ubuntu related distros. They try to keep up by using snaps and stuff but it’s still no comparison. Arch has everything.

        Still it’s gets a bit boring now since I know it so well, so want to try Gentoo at some point also.

  • Zucca@sopuli.xyz
    1·
    1 year ago

    My first Gentoo install took like a week to get X running. It was my first foray into Linux (Ok, I briefly tried mkLinux).

    I learnt the hard way, but I learnt. And I’m still on that same path: Gentoo. Why I don’t bother switching? Because I can customize Gentoo to whatever I like, so instead of doing distro hop I just reconfigure things.